Crain’s Chicago Business: The best is yet to come in Chicago for this New York real estate firm by Ally Marotti

A New York real estate company is entering the Chicago market by way of a 272-unit apartment complex in Aurora.

Sinatra & Co. Real Estate bought Orchard Village Apartments for $34.5 million in a deal that closed yesterday, said president Nick Sinatra. Chicago-based residential property management and acquisitions firm Stadt Group partnered with Sinatra on the purchase, and New York-based private real estate investment trust National Property REIT Corp. provided majority equity investment.

The sellers, Aurora-based Sherman Residential, put the property on the market in May, Crain’s reported. Sherman paid $27.8 million for the property in 2007.

Orchard Village, 1240 W. Indian Trail Road, spans 17.3 acres and has a mix of one- and two-bedroom units renting for $1,100 to $1,300 per month. Sinatra said his company, which specializes in value-add opportunities, plans to modernize the units by adding hard-surface floors, upgrading appliances and countertops and revitalizing the common areas with new furniture and a new grill and kitchen area by the pool.

“This property in particular is a cookie-cutter example, if you will, of a value-add property,” Sinatra said. “The building has tremendous infrastructure and bones. It was built in 2000 so it’s relatively new and it really hasn’t been updated much since then.”

Sinatra & Co. plans to invest “a few million” into the renovations, which will be done on a rolling basis as tenants move out, Sinatra said. The property’s vacancy rate is less than 5 percent. Rents will likely increase after the renovations to match market values, he said.

Pete Evans of Moran & Co. represented Sherman Residential in the deal. Evans declined to comment further, and a representative from Sherman was not available for comment.

Sinatra & Co. has invested in over $150 million in real estate assets in western New York and southern California. Although this is the company’s first foray into the Chicago market and a spokeswoman said no other deals are currently in the works, Sinatra & Co. is actively looking to expand its portfolio here.